Here's what to know about NASCAR's Daytona 500 Sunday

CNN

16-02-2025

A sellout crowd and millions of viewers at home will watch 41 drivers aim to win NASCAR's grandest prize, the Daytona 500, on Sunday.
Bump-drafting, slingshot passing and massive pileups are likely in store for Cup Series competitors at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
Here's what you need to know before the green flag drops. Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
While the Cup Series and other lower divisions have previously raced with rain tires on a wet track, Daytona's high-banked, three-story-tall corners prevent this at full speed –– and rain is in the forecast for Sunday.
A 60% chance of showers is expected in the afternoon. Conditions should clear as day moves to night.
Should a rain delay present itself, the track has light fixtures which allow for night racing since the racing surface would need around 1-2 hours to dry after showers clear.
To try and get as many laps completed as possible, NASCAR has moved up the start time by one hour, with an expected green flag at 2 p.m. ET.
Much like baseball, a race is considered official once it reaches its halfway point (100 of 200 laps). If the race is unable to restart Sunday before making it to halfway, the race would pick up on Monday, when skies should be clear. If the race hits lap 101 and rain washes out the rest of the event, whoever was leading when the delay started would be declared the winner.
Chase Briscoe, in his first race in the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, won the pole in qualifying Wednesday with an average lap speed of 182.745 mph. Austin Cindric, who won the 2022 Daytona 500 in his rookie season, qualified second.
To determine the rest of the starting field, two 60-lap heat races known as Duels were held on Thursday. The drivers in the first race received odd-numbered starting positions for the Daytona 500 based on the finishing order – the second race, even-numbered starting positions.
Bubba Wallace, driving for 23XI Racing co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan, won the first Duel and will start third on Sunday. William Byron, who won last year's 500, finished runner-up and will start fifth.
In the second Duel, Erik Jones had seemingly beat Cindric to the finish line side-by-side on the final lap as a multi-car pileup broke out behind them. But because Cindric was inches ahead of Jones when the caution was displayed, Cindric was declared the winner. Since Cindric already qualified on the front row, Jones will receive the winner's beneficiary of starting fourth on Sunday.
Here's another look at what happened at the end of Duel No. 2 at Daytona. pic.twitter.com/mDrqSC83aN Other fan favorites and their starting positions include:
Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup champion and winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver award seven years running, will start 17th.
Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner of the 500, starts 8th.
Ryan Blaney, the 2023 Cup champion, starts 16th.
Joey Logano, the defending Cup champion and a former 500 winner, starts 10th.
Tyler Reddick, last year's regular season champion, starts 11th.
Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion seeking his first 500 victory in his 20th attempt, starts 21st.
Kyle Larson, the 2021 Cup champion and also looking to win his first 500, rolls off 22nd. While a familiar face to many auto racing fans (and longtime viewers of ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars'), four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves will be making his NASCAR Cup debut Sunday.
Castroneves will start 41st – the last position – in the No. 91 Chevrolet courtesy of an Open Exemption Provisional, a new feature from NASCAR to give drivers from other auto racing series a chance to race in a one-off appearance. The Brazilian was 39th in initial qualifying and was involved in a crash in the first Duel, sending him to the rear for the 500.
'I learned so much,' he said after his Duel exit Thursday. 'I love it. Unfortunate we have to take the provisional, that's not what we wanted but we will, and in the end I have more to learn.'
Castroneves is not the only big name at Daytona making a guest appearance. Former Cup champions Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr., both of whom retired from full-time competition, each qualified their way into the race and will start 39th and 40th.